BEST
Bioenergy and
Sustainable Technologies
Publications
Peer Reviewed Scientific Journals | 2021
Bioenergy technologies, uses, market and future trends with Austria as a case study
Anca-Couce A, Hochenauer C, Scharler R. Bioenergy technologies, uses, market and future trends with Austria as a case study. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.2021;135:110237.
The current bioenergy uses and conversion technologies as well as future trends for the production of heat, power, fuels and chemicals from biomass are reviewed. The focus is placed in Austria, which is selected due to its high bioenergy utilization, providing 18.4% of the gross energy final consumption in 2017, and its strong industrial and scientific position in the field. The most common bioenergy application in Austria is bioheat with 170 PJ in 2017 mainly obtained from woody biomass combustion, followed by biofuels with 21 PJ and bioelectricity with 17 PJ. Bioheat has a stable market, where Austrian manufacturers of boilers and stoves have a strong position exporting most of their production. Future developments in bioheat production should go in the line of further reducing emissions, increasing feedstock flexibility and coupling with other renewables. For bioelectricity and biofuels, the current framework does not promote the growth of the current main technologies, i.e. combined heat and power (CHP) based on biomass combustion or biogas and first generation biofuels. However, an increase in all bioenergy uses is required to achieve the Austrian plan to be climate neutral in 2040. The current initiatives and future possibilities to achieve this increase are presented and discussed, e.g. mandatory substitution of old oil boilers, production of biomethane and early commercialization of CHP with a high efficiency or demonstration of advanced biofuels production based on gasification.
Conference contributions | 2020
Biofuels for transport decarbonisation Country specific assessment for Finland, Sweden, Germany, USA and Brazil
Matschegg D, Biofuels for transport decarbonisation Country specific assessment for Finland, Sweden, Germany, USA and Brazil. 6th Central European Biomass Conference, 22-24 January 2020, Graz.
Conference contributions | 2013
Biofuels in Austria – yesterday, today and tomorrow
Wörgetter M, Bacovsky D. Biofuels in Austria – yesterday, today and tomorrow, 20th International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels (ISAF) 2013, 25th-27th of March 2013, Cape Town, South Africa.
Technical Reports | 2016
Biofuels in transport
Bacovsky D. Biofuels in transport. WPC Guide to Biofuels. September 2016.
Conference contributions | 2013
Biofuels RD&D in BIOENERGY 2020+
Bacovsky D. Biofuels RD&D in BIOENERGY 2020+, Eco-Mobility Conference 2013, 3rd-4th of October 2013, Vienna, Austria.
Conference contributions | 2014
Biograce-II - Harmonised Greenhouse Gas Calculations for Electricity, Heating and Cooling from Biomass
Ludwiczek N, Bacovsky D, Neeft J. Biograce-II - Harmonised Greenhouse Gas Calculations for Electricity, Heating and Cooling from Biomass, 22nd European Biomass Conference 2014, 23rd-26th of June 2014, Hamburg, Germany. p 1359-1361.
Contributions at other events | 2014
Biohydrogen Production Based on the Catalyzed Water Gas Shift Reaction in Wood Gas
Fail, S. Biohydrogen Production Based on the Catalyzed Water Gas Shift Reaction in Wood Gas, Ph.D. Thesis, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, 2014.
Peer Reviewed Scientific Journals | 2016
Biological biogas upgrading capacity of a hydrogenotrophic community in a trickle-bed reactor
Rachbauer L, Voitl G, Bochmann G, Fuchs W. Biological biogas upgrading capacity of a hydrogenotrophic community in a trickle-bed reactor. Applied Energy. 15 October 2016;180: 483-490.
Conference contributions | 2014
Biomass CHP Oberwart –Production of heat, power and valuable gases
Rauch R. Biomass CHP Oberwart –Production of heat, power and valuable gases, 4th Central European Biomass Conference 2014, 15th-18th of January 2014, Graz, Austria.
Conference contributions | 2014
Biomass CHP Oberwart: Status and Future Potentials
Wilk V, Bosch K, Rauch R, Hofbauer H. Biomass CHP Oberwart: Status and Future Potentials, 4th International Symposium on Gasification and its Applications (iSGA-4) 2014, 2nd-5th of September 2014, Vienna, Austria.
Conference contributions | 2011
Biomass combustion technologies – state-of-the-art and relevant future developments (keynote lecture)
Obernberger I. Biomass combustion technologies - state-of-the-art and relevant future developments (keynote lecture), Central European Biomass Conference 2011, 26th-29th of January 2011, Graz, Austria. (oral presentation)
Conference contributions | 2008
Biomass Gasification CHP Plant Güssing: Research Centre for 2nd Generation Biofuels
Aichernig C, Hofbauer H, Pfeifer CH, Rauch R. Biomass Gasification CHP Plant Güssing: Research Centre for 2nd Generation Biofuels, 16th European Biomass Conference 2008, 2nd-6th of June 2008, Valencia, Spain. p 731-735.
Other publication | 2014
Biomass Gasification for Synthesis Gas Production and Applications of the Syngas
Rauch R, Hrbek J, Hofbauer H. Biomass gasification for synthesis gas production and applications of the syngas. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment. 2014;3(4):343-62.
Synthesis gas from biomass can be produced and utilized in different ways. Conversion of biomass to synthesis gas can be done either in fluidized bed or entrained flow reactors. As gasification agent oxygen, steam, or mixtures are used. The most common use of biomass gasification in the last decades has been for heat and/or power production. Nowadays, the importance of transportation fuels from renewables is increased due to environmental aspects and growing fossil fuels prices. That is why the production of Fischer-Tropsch (FT) liquids, methanol, mixed alcohols, substitute natural gas (SNG), and hydrogen from biomass is now in focus of view. The most innovative and interesting ways of synthesis gas utilization and projects, BioTfueL or GoBiGas, BioLiq, Choren, etc. are discussed here. Further the microchannel technology by Oxford Catalysts and distributed production of SNG in decentral small scale are presented. The synthesis platform in Güssing, Austria is also presented. The FT liquids, hydrogen production, mixed alcohols, and BioSNG, these are the projects associated with the FICFB gasification plant in Güssing. Also the principle and examples of sorption-enhanced reforming to adjust H2/CO ratio in product gas during the gasification is described. Finally, in the conclusion also an outlook for the thermochemical pathway to transportation fuels is given. WIREs Energy Environ 2014, 3:343-362. doi: 10.1002/wene.97 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Conference contributions | 2014
Biomass in the Common Roadmap
Haslinger W. Biomass in the Common Roadmap, Annual Event of European Technology Platform Renewable Heating and Cooling 2014, 22nd of May 2014, Brussels, Belgium.
Conference contributions | 2013
Biomass Price Volatility - Analysis of the Historic Biomass and Energy Price volatility in the Austrian Market
Kristöfel C, Strasser C, Morawetz U, Schmidt J, Schmid E. Biomass Price Volatility - Analysis of the Historic Biomass and Energy Price volatility in the Austrian Market, 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition 2013, 3rd-7th of June 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark. p 1721-1727.
Several energy and agricultural commodities have experienced higher price volatility in recent years. Hence, the interest in food and energy security issues as well as price volatility has increased, particularly since the rise in food and energy commodity prices in 2007/2008. Volatility is associated with risk since higher price volatility leads to additional costs that are often shared and transmitted along the supply chain to the final consumers. Volatility of woody biomass prices is also possibly higher due to increased market dynamics and integration as well as renewable energy policy intervention. We compute historic price volatility using the standard deviation of log returns as well as univariate GARCH models and empirically analyze whether or not price volatility of woody biomass commodities has increased in recent years. We also compare the historic price volatility of woody biomass to the price volatility of agricultural commodities and fossil fuels. Results indicate that the price volatility of some woody biomass commodities has increased, but it is still lower than of agricultural biomass and fossil fuels.
Peer Reviewed Scientific Journals | 2020
Biomass pyrolysis TGA assessment with an international round robin
Anca-Couce A, Tsekos C, Retschitzegger S, Zimbardi F, Funke A, Banks S, Kraia T, Marques P, Scharler R, de Jong W, Kienzl N. Biomass pyrolysis TGA assessment with an international round robin.Fuel.2020;276:118002.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118002
The large variations found in literature for the activation energy values of main biomass compounds (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) in pyrolysis TGA raise concerns regarding the reliability of both the experimental and the modelling side of the performed works. In this work, an international round robin has been conducted by 7 partners who performed TGA pyrolysis experiments of pure cellulose and beech wood at several heating rates. Deviations of around 20 – 30 kJ/mol were obtained in the activation energies of cellulose, hemicellulose and conversions up to 0.9 with beech wood when considering all experiments. The following method was employed to derive reliable kinetics: to first ensure that pure cellulose pyrolysis experiments from literature can be accurately reproduced, and then to conduct experiments at different heating rates and evaluate them with isoconversional methods to detect experiments that are outliers and to validate the reliability of the derived kinetics and employed reaction models with a fitting routine. The deviations in the activation energy values for the cases that followed this method, after disregarding other cases, were of 10 kJ/mol or lower, except for lignin and very high conversions. This method is therefore proposed in order to improve the consistency of data acquisition and kinetic analysis of TGA for biomass pyrolysis in literature, reducing the reported variability.
Conference contributions | 2012
Biomass steam gasification - A platform for synthesis gas applications
Rauch R. Biomass steam gasification - A platform for synthesis gas applications, IEA Bioenergy Conference 2012, 13th-15th of November 2012, Vienna, Austria.
Reviewed Conference Papers | 2016
Biomass-Based Heating and Hot Water Supply Systems for Prefabricated, High Energy Performance Houses: a Comparison of System Configurations and Control Strategies
Carlon E, Schwarz M, Prada A, Verma V, Baratieri M, Gasparella A, Schmidl C. Biomass-Based Heating and Hot Water Supply Systems for Prefabricated, High Energy Performance Houses: a Comparison of System Configurations and Control Strategies. 12th REHVA World Congress CLIMA 2016 (full paper review and oral presentation). 22 May 2016, Aalborg, Denmark.
Nowadays prefabricated houses are becoming increasingly popular, thanks to their low cost and high energy performance. Heating systems installed in these houses should be carefully designed and controlled, to ensure sufficient thermal comfort while maintaining low fuel consumptions. This study presents the simulation of different system configurations and control strategies for a pre-fabricated house, located in Lower Austria. The house is heated by a 6 kW pellet boiler directly connected to a floor heating system, in a configuration without buffer storage tank. Using the TRNSYS simulation suite, a coupled simulation of the house and its heating and hot water supply system was set up, calibrated and validated with reference to monitoring data. As monitoring data evidenced that the control strategy of the heating system is not ideal to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature during the whole day, two improved strategies were simulated over the heating season and evaluated in terms of thermal comfort, pellet consumption and boiler’s efficiency. Moreover, to better understand the influence of the system configuration, simulations have been repeated considering another heat distribution system (radiators instead of floor heating). Results show that the radiators’ network, if adequately controlled, reduces by 85% the total discomfort time. In addition, the pellet boiler mainly operates in load modulation regime, leading to lower pellet supply rates and therefore to lower pellet consumptions (18% less than floor heating). However, the lower operational loads and frequent ignitions result in a slightly lower efficiency of the pellet boiler (4% less than the configuration with floor heating.
Conference contributions | 2012
Biomasse befeuerte automatische Öfen mittels Thermoelektrik
Höftberger E. Biomasse befeuerte automatische Öfen mittels Thermoelektrik, RENEXPO 2012, 29th of November-1st of December 2012, Salzburg, Austria.
Conference contributions | 2015
Biomasse der Zukunft – Bioenergie der Zukunft?
Wopienka E. Biomasse der Zukunft – Bioenergie der Zukunft? Internationale Konferenz auf Schloss Weinzierl 2015, 29th of Januar 2015, Wieselburg, Austria.
Conference contributions | 2012
Biomasse F&E Roadmap „Erneuerbares Heizen und Kühlen“
Haslinger W, Höftberger E, Schmidl C, Strasser C, Wörgetter M, Kranzl L. Biomasse F&E Roadmap „Erneuerbares Heizen und Kühlen“, Highlights der Energieforschung. Erneuerbares Heizen und Kühlen 2012, 19th of April 2012, Vienna, Austria.
Conference contributions | 2008
Biomassekleinfeuerungen – Überblick und Darstellung innovativer Entwicklungen
Haslinger W, Griesmayr S, Pointner CH, Friedl G. Biomassekleinfeuerungen – Überblick und Darstellung innovativer Entwicklungen, 8. Industrieforum Pellets 2008 / 8th Pellets Industry Forum 2008, 28th – 29th of October 2008, Stuttgart, Germany.
This paper briefly discusses the relevance of small-scale biomass combustion systems for European renewable energy policy. Moreover, the state-of-the-art of modern small-scale biomass combustion systems is presented. The different technologies are reviewed regarding emissions and efficiency for different biomass. On-going developments and innovative approaches are presented and discussed.
Conference contributions | 2012
BioMaxEff – Cost efficient biomass boiler systems with maximum annual efficiency and lowest emissions
Haslinger W, et al. BioMaxEff – Cost efficient biomass boiler systems with maximum annual efficiency and lowest emissions, 20th European Biomass Conference 2012, 18th-22nd of June 2012, Milano, Italy.
Other Presentations | 2014
Can bioavailability of trace elements be measured in AD systems?
Ortner M, Rachbauer L, Somitsch W, Bochmann G, Fuchs W. Can bioavailability of trace elements be measured in AD systems? Biogas Science 2014, International Conference on Anaerobic Digestion 26th–30th of October 2014, Vienna, Austria.
Other Presentations | 2013
Can bioavailability of trace nutrients be measured in an AD process?
Ortner M, Rachbauer L, Somitsch W, Fuchs W. Can bioavailability of trace nutrients be measured in an AD process? Bioenergy Conference 2013, 4th-6th of September 2013, Jyväskylä, Finnland.